GM crops may push poorest farmers into debt
Genetically modified (GM) crops will not tackle world hunger and could threaten the livelihoods of Third World farmers, a new study has said. The report was published May 28 by the charity ActionAid, before the start of the Government’s long-awaited debate on GM next week.

US President George Bush claimed last week the EU had blocked efforts to use GM crops to fight famine because of “unfounded, unscientific fears.”

But the research found that the new technology threatened to push poor farmers deeper into debt. Using evidence from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the report concludes that rather than alleviating world hunger, GM is likely to lead to even more hungry people than exist today.

Among the findings are that GM seeds are more suited to the needs of large-scale commercial enterprises rather than poor farmers, and that expansion is driven by the corporate profit of four multinationals — Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, and DuPont.

Farmers are not allowed to save GM seed from one harvest to the next. “Terminator technology,” which produces sterile seeds, is also being developed. There is also “no consistent evidence” that GM crops yield more and require fewer chemicals.

The US biotech industry spends $250 million a year promoting GM. “What is causing world hunger is poverty and inequality. Money would be far better spent tackling these problems than poured into GM technology,” said Adriano Campolina Soares from ActionAid Brazil. (UK Independent Digital)

Maine salmon farms closed to benefit wild salmon
The wild North Atlantic Salmon, an endangered species, got bad and good news recently. On the heels of a report that says seven countries, including the United States, have failed to even minimally protect them, a federal judge on May 30 ordered Maine’s largest salmon aquaculture company to empty its salmon rearing pens to give its polluted bays and the wild salmon time to recover.

The terms of US District Judge Gene Carter’s decision resolved a lawsuit filed in July 2000 by two Maine residents and the United States Public Interest Research Group against Heritage Salmon, a subsidiary of Norwegian seafood giant Fjord Seafood, for discharging pollutants into the ocean without Clean Water Act discharge permits.

This marks the first time regulations have been placed on salmon farming in this country, said David Nicholas of the Environment Law Center, which was among the plaintiffs in the case.

The Atlantic salmon is an anadromous fish, which means that it spawns in fresh water but lives mostly in salt water. Its historic range, much of it now reduced or extinct, stretched across the North Atlantic Ocean and tributaries from Ungava Bay, Quebec, to Lake Ontario and southward to Connecticut in North America, and from the White Sea in Russia to Portugal on the eastern side. (ENS)

Toxins on tap in Pakistan
With 62 percent of the 2.4 million people of the impoverished Kasur area in Pakistan’s northern Punjab province suffering from serious ailments caused by industrial waste, health authorities warn that the country’s water sources are turning into toxic cesspools.

Swimming in muck are the capital, Islamabad, and Kasur, where waste-water from tanneries and industries is being discharged into the country’s waterways, says the Islamabad-based Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD).

Tanneries have turned Kasur into a killing field. Over 62 percent of ordinary people and 72 percent of tannery workers have contracted one or more problems like cancer, respiratory infections, tuberculosis, loss of eyesight, liver and abdominal diseases, kidney and urine tract infection, weak reflexes, numbness, and loss of memory, among others.

The majority of patients are under the age of 20.

Community activists are now teaching people about the dangers of drinking contaminated water. But such efforts are nullified if the people lack access to clean drinking water.

The Pakistan government with the assistance of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the United Nations Development Program has launched a $10 million project for wastewater management.

But such efforts may be too little, as activists say the volume of waste is much greater than the treatment capacity. (OneWorld.net)

Greenpeace protests Exxon, again
About 36 Greenpeace demonstrators, some dressed in tiger suits, were arrested last week at the headquarters Exxon Mobil Corp. in Irving, TX, in a protest against the oil giant’s environmental policies, police said.

Greenpeace said the protest was aimed at increasing awareness about what it called Exxon Mobil’s role in perpetuating global warming, while the company said the demonstration was high on drama but short on facts.

A Greenpeace spokesman said protesters blocked a front gate at the company’s headquarters with vans, while other demonstrators dressed in tiger suits — after the Exxon mascot — roamed through the facility handing out information on Exxon policies that harmed the environment.

Greenpeace said some of the protesters made their way past Exxon security guards by rolling up to the company’s gates in large cars and wearing suits. As a result, the guards thought they were employees or guests, the group said.

A few protesters made it to the roof of a three-floor building, but were soon arrested, police said. Those taken into custody may face trespassing charges.

The protest was aimed at kicking off more demonstrations planned for Exxon’s shareholders meeting May 28. (Reuters)

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